


Dragonslayers

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-08
Updated: 2005-07-08
Packaged: 2019-05-15 14:48:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14792540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: "If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." -- Niccolo Machiavelli





	Dragonslayers

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Dragonslayers**

**by: Dax Steele**

**Character(s):** Josh, Senior Staff  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Category(s):** Angst  
**Rating:** MATURE  
**Disclaimer:** No copyright infringement is intended with the use of characters and situations from the West Wing.  
**Summary:** "If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." -- Niccolo Machiavelli  
**Feedback:** Yes please.  
**Author's Note:** Sequel to It's What Good Sons Do. 

"How is Josh handling this?" CJ smiled wistfully before looking out the window. If I didn't know her better I would have thought she didn't hear the question. CJ Cregg heard everything, even when you wish she didn't.

"Most people think he's got no conscience." She snickered. "In most respects they are right, at least on the Hill, but not when it comes to Donna." I waited patiently for her to continue. I really was worried about Josh, and even if the story hadn't dictated the need would have asked the question. "You know, since the first day it leaked that they were engaged the Women's Coalition have been giving him trouble. They think he is a chauvinistic pig because he makes Donna walk behind him." She turned and looked at me for the first time. "You know the real reason Josh makes her walk behind him?"

"Because he's the Chief Of Staff?" CJ shook her head.

"He knows the moment he steps out the door the gunmen will have their scopes trained on him and he's terrified she will get caught in the cross fire. He would take another bullet before he would ever let her get hit. He's a funny guy, that Josh. He wakes up every morning and looks at a fifteen inch reminder that doctors had to rebuild his heart while Donna sat for fourteen hours praying he would survive their bullet." She batted at a tear threatening to fall. "There is nothing that scares him more than a gun and yet for seven years he never let her walk out the door first. He sat on the cold concrete this afternoon shielding her face from the rain knowing that the one time he let his guard down she was hit." CJ sighed and grabbed a tissue, dabbing her eyes. "Silly him, thinking that maybe on his wedding day it would be safe to walk beside her." 

I hated asking the next question. "Can I quote you on that?"

She made a flittering gesture with her hand indicating that she could care less. She was distracted again. "It always rains on days like today." She looked at the torrential downpour that fell outside her window. "If I still believed in God I would say he was crying." I fought the urge to set my notebook down and gather her in my arms. I knew Donna was one of CJ's best friends and the tragedy was hitting her deeply. "I think God died in Rosslyn." 

The Dragonslayers: - Danny Concanon 2012 

Leo McGarry scoured the halls like a man on a mission. They messed with his family for the last time. He stopped for a fleeting moment and watched the news footage of Donna falling. Her white gown immediately stained with blood as Josh cried out for help. Fighting back more tears he stiffened his back and stalked out to where Ron's men were hiding. "How the hell did this happen?" The agent conversing quietly with Ron Butterfield flinched but Ron held his ground. "The place was supposed to be tighter than a drum, how the hell did this happen?" Ron ignored the gruff attitude knowing Leo was in pain. 

"We're tracking down the leak."

"This is a catastrophe."

"But we got you and the President in the car, sir." Ron did flinch at the other agent's comment. He was new to the detail and wasn't familiar with the Bartlett family yet. Leo growled at the rookie and took an aggressive step toward the man. 

"Tell that to my son." The agent was slightly taken aback by the comment. He knew for a fact there was no blood relation between Josh and Leo.

"We'll find them Mr. McGarry." Ron cut off the man before he could say something else idiotic and wind up on Leo's hit list.

"See that you do." Ron fought the rare urge to strangle the agent when he turned and asked the idiotic question he was trying to stay off.

"Mr. Lyman's not his son. I've seen the files Mr. Butterfield." Ron growled at him.

"You want to tell Vice President McGarry that?" 

Josh Lyman sat with one hand intertwined with his mother's and the other thrown haphazardly over his face. Rachel Lyman looked up to see Leo enter the room and forced a smile. Extracting herself from her son she walked to her old friend's side. "Any news?" Leo's arms were immediately surrounding her. 

"Not yet. How's he holding up?" Leo looked over at the shattered man in uncomfortable plastic chair.

"About as well as can be expected." She sighed and sank deeper into the comforting embrace. Rachel didn't have many family members left with Noah gone. Josh brought a warm ray of sunshine into her life when he told her that he finally admitted his feelings to Donna and Rachel had not stopped smiling since. He also brought the wonder of a man that held her tightly in his arms. She had missed Leo's friendship over the years, thankful that he was there to watch over her son, but lately she found herself talking to him more often. 

After Rosslyn, Leo called her once a week to see how she was doing and report on the mischief her son was causing on the Hill. He always made sure to stop in when business brought him her way which was a minor miracle for Leo McGarry. They went to dinner several times over the last few weeks while she was in town helping with the wedding and she found herself wondering if there was something more there. Her queries were put on the back burner when the shots rang out. Gentle sobs shook her as she remembered her son covered in his bride's blood. She had been in surgery for five hours and there was still no word.

Leo gently rubbed her back and held her tightly. "How are you doing?" "I'm handling it. I'm worried about Josh though. He's blaming himself." 

Leo smiled sadly. Josh always took the blame when something went wrong. "They are both going to be fine." Leo said the words with confidence he didn't really feel. "I hope you are right."

He could still see her smile shining up at him as he said "I do." It was perfect. The elections were over and they were headed to Hawaii to recuperate from the campaign trail. He almost chuckled remembering how excited she had been about the blue bikini she found in LA while he was busy ridding the world of Republicans. He told her if she put it on they would never make to the beach. He could almost hear her laughing response. A promise to Leo lingered in the back of his mind as he stared at the palm of his hand, tracing the scar. He was all set to be Leo's Chief of Staff but not without her. He would never be half the man he was with her at his side. He knew Leo would understand but it meant letting down yet another person in his life. 

He wondered what made him such a prime target for their wrath. Toby was also a high ranking Jewish senior staffer who happened to be an unwed father yet their crosshairs had rested squarely on Josh's chest. It wasn't that he wished harm on Toby but it was difficult for him to comprehend how they could pick one over another. Was there a application process? Did members submit nominations for those who would be harassed? Granted in their eyes Toby's sin was small. He at least had the decency to keep to his own kind, but Josh, like Charlie had soiled a perfect Aryan princess.

Of course if they bothered to check they would find out her maternal grandparents are polish, not that they cared. Inspection stopped with the beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes and the perfect cross hanging around her neck. It was a gift from the man that was supposedly tainting her faith. Josh shook his head straining to understand how anyone could hate him so much that they could hurt Donna, his precious, gentle Donna.

He found his hand suddenly covered by an older gentle one hiding the gold band shining sadly in the faint fluorescent light. He raised his eyes and found Leo kneeling painfully in front of him. "Why?" He could tell by the look on his face that Leo was wishing on all that was holy that he could answer that question but there was nothing holy about it. It was pure evil. Josh wasn't sure he believed in God anymore.

"I don't think I can do this without her Leo." His whisper shattered Leo's heart and he found himself enveloped in a hug, clinging desperately to the man that was the closest thing to his father he could ever hope to find. Sobs wracked his body as he cried out the frustration of a thousand days of pain and torment at the hands of West Virginia White Pride. If he had his way they would find them in a ditch in Kentucky in a hundred pieces but he probably wasn't going to get his way.

Finally pulling himself together for Donna's sake Josh sat back in time to see the doctor walk in. "Mr. Lyman?" The trio turned to the doctor expectantly. His mother and Leo we immediately standing in the man's face demanding news but the somber look on the doctors face zapped any strength Josh might have found to stand. "She's out of surgery. We have her stabilized but now it's up to Donna. If she makes it through the night her chances improve greatly." Josh nodded mutely, sure someone told Donna the same thing when he was shot.

"Have you told her parents?" Rachel called the doctors attention back to her, giving Josh a moment to absorb the news. 

"I was hoping to find them here." The doctor surveyed the room as if he expected to find them cowering under a chair. "Her mother had to be sedated. I think the nurse took them to one of the examining rooms." She felt Leo's hand creep across her back to her opposite shoulder. Gratefully she leaned her weight against him and tried to fight the tears she so desperately wanted to spill. 

"Can I see her?" The doctor almost missed Josh's quiet plea as he turned and walked toward the door. 

"Of course Mr. Lyman, I'm sorry. One guest at a time though." The party nodded. "Talk to her, sometimes it helps."

"It does." Josh whispered to no one and gathered his reserve strength to stand. He was wringing his hands nervously as he stood outside her door, terrified of what he would find inside. Taking a deep breath he pushed open the door and walked in the darkened cell. She looked like an angel and for a moment he almost believed again but the beeps from the heart monitor brought his reality crashing back down around him. He took her hand, resting his head on the edge of the bed so he could watch her sleep. "Come back to me Donnatella." 


End file.
